Question：Should/did you go for a car and driver as an expat in China?
Answer : Yes, the pros as below:
Not getting lost when going places.
No parking problems. The driver would drop me and then find a place to wait till I called him to pick me up.
Relaxing in the backseat during bad traffic jam.
Don't have to get car repair.
Question：What are the pros and cons of driving, using a car service or having a full time driver as an expat in Shanghai?
Answer by BZ：
As I work for a foreign company in Shanghai, I may give some suggestions.
If you can't speak or read Chinese, driving by yourself can be difficult, as almost all signboards on the road or in the parking place are written in Chinese. Sometimes you have to ask the service people for parking place also. Another cons is that you have to deal with the crazy and furious driving styles of other drivers, many of them are definitely not polite. The only benefit can be the convenience when where you live or where you go is very far from metro station.
I'm sure what you mean by saying “car service”, is that calling a taxi at any time you want? I would say it's very easy to take a taxi and not expensive.
Well, most of Expats choose to have a full time driver with a car. If you rent a car with driver a package, it will cost much less then hire them separetely. You can call them whenever you want, especially when you have to work late, but please ask if they also want to do overtime job during weekends.